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The Sydney Morning Herald has been able to thrive for as long as it has (we’re 195 this year, in case you missed it) by nurturing young talent until they’re ready to become the next custodians of the masthead. This can be formal, through things such as traineeships, but mostly it happens organically as experienced journalists share their wisdom with newer colleagues. Overhearing Kate McClymont or Harriet Alexander interview someone over the phone, for example, is a masterclass in itself.
It’s a two-way street; our younger reporters bring fresh ideas and infectious enthusiasm to the newsroom.
This week, I was thrilled to see some of our newest reporters and photographers recognised in the Mid-Year Walkley Prizes for journalism. The Herald had seven nominations – eight, if we include photographer Audrey Richardson, who was nominated for work published before she joined the Herald. Five were for Young Journalist awards, categories reserved for reporters aged 28 and under.
Our Parramatta bureau chief Anthony Segaert was one of them. Anthony was nominated for exposing ructions at Parramatta Council. He didn’t have much time to celebrate; this week, he has been busy reporting on an Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry into staff at that same council – Friday was a particularly spicy day of hearings – as well as covering drama over at Liverpool Council, and breaking news of a secret proposal to turn Bankstown Airport into a mini-city of 30,000 homes, alongside another former Herald trainee, now North America correspondent, Michael Koziol.
Emily Kowal was another. Emily is key to our coverage in education, an area of keen interest for Herald readers. She was nominated for her exposé of the dangers posed to children by predators using AI and the popular children’s gaming platform Roblox, a subject she returned to this week with a story on studies raising concerns that Roblox is normalising gambling. As a parent, I pore over Emily’s stories, and heed their lessons; to my children’s annoyance, I was particularly interested in her piece this week about the importance of homework in primary school.
Crime reporter Riley Walter received two nominations, for short-form journalism and for specialist reporting. Riley joined the Herald two years ago and is an invaluable member of our energetic crime team. One of the challenges of crime reporting can be the difficult hours, but a true newshound will jump on a story at any time. When a particularly awful one broke on Monday evening, Riley headed straight to the scene and worked almost until dawn to ensure that Herald readers woke to a comprehensive account.
Angus Thomson was nominated for his outstanding health coverage, while Audrey was nominated for work she did for Getty, Reuters and The Sunday Times before she started a photographic traineeship with the Herald in January.
Meanwhile, the Herald‘s highly respected arts reporter, Linda Morris, was nominated in the arts category for a series of stories, including a piece on the Powerhouse Museum in Parramatta with this wonderful headline: “Is our new ‘museum’ brilliant, bonkers or just a big box?”
Our health editor Kate Aubusson, news blogger Emily Kaine and The Age’s Aisha Dow were also nominated for the Women’s Leadership in Media prize for their medical misogyny investigation, which also earned them a Walkley award last year.
Of course, awards aren’t everything. The Herald produces award-worthy journalism every day. Some of our hardest-working reporters regularly break news and produce insightful features that don’t fit neatly into prize categories. Awards are a symptom of a thriving newsroom, but not a measure of one, and they’re not the reason we do what we do. But they do provide a chance to acknowledge the talent and dedication of our rising stars.
They also provide us with an opportunity to thank you, our subscribers. Your support ensures that we can continue to produce quality journalism.
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